and gracefully bowed out. I'm talking the SNES version. Dunno if the DS Curse of the Sinistrals remake changes this up.

And I mentioned Memories Off: 2nd where it starts out with the protagonist going through a rough patch in his relationship, and there is the path where he stays with the girl and they work through it rather than him bailing.

Alex and Luna, Lunar Silver Star Story. Being in love since they were kids, knowing they were always gonna be together, and then Luna's kidnapping and Alex becoming the right hand of the goddess to save her...and the secret of her story altogether...man it's touching even if it's cheesy as all fuck. All the character's love stories were pretty nice, but Alex and Luna...I'd like to meet a guy who wouldn't want this to happen to him. Pretty sure every guy in existence has a fantasy along these lines.

As far as Romance is concerned I must agree that Lunar nails it! But to expand, its less the exclusive Alex/Luna love I appreciate and more of the romance dynamic in the series. Jessica and Kyle in particular really entertained me but it was the Hiro and Lucia relationship in Eternal Blue that I was truly able to relate to a bit more than any other romance dynamic. While Alex/Luna and Hiro/Lucia both illustrate an idealistic love, I always felt like Hiro was "fighting against the odds" a bit more when it came to winning Lucia's affection (which proved endearing) whereas the Alex/Luna thing was predistined and illustrated Alex's dedication to his love. In other words, Alex fights to protect indomitable love whereas Hiro is fighting to attain it.

I agree. Hell, the whole EB epilogue was about Hiro doing whatever he could (against all odds) to find a way to get to Lucia. I'm not a big fan of love stories in video games, but the Lunar series did a damn good job.

I'm voting Lunar II, Lufia II, and Dragon Quest V. The epilogue in Lunar II is as feel-good as romance endings get. The credits from Lufia II are as cry-hard as romance endings get. And I love DQV's emphasis on the hero's journey to become a man, and meeting the girl of your dreams, marrying her, and seeing your children grow up to be the heroes that save the world is really neat.

Persona 3 --- No love for Junpei and Chidori? I liked how they slowly started, both unsure and shy, and love slowly blossoms from the unlikiest of pairs. Also, as the MC, you can encourage that love and affect how the relationship turns out.

Mass Effect --- Fem Shep and Garrus. Ok yeah, my husband screams and covers his eyes whenever they get mushy but I like how the cocky Garrus gets all shy and uncertain about the opposite sex.

Digital Devil Saga --- Sera and SerphI like seeing how the romance slowly grows between the two, and the side story with Heat competing for her affections. Its all the more poignant because [spoilers] Serph and Heat's roles were reversed in real life and the real Serph was quite the villain.[/spoilers]

There were some other great ones already mentioned: Locke and Celes, Tifa and Cloud, Tidus and Yuna.

I still think the big pimp in RPGs is Meis from Thousand Arms. Where characters like Irvine claim to be womanizers, they're all talk whereas Meis walks the walk. He dates every girl in his party AND hass girlfriends in various towns (including the little sister of one of his party members.) Heck, he even dates a priestess who's probably 200 years old or something.

...pity Ratchet wasn't date-able in that game. le sigh.

I agree, but fish people man....fish people!!

I love the hell outta Meis though, that was a title that I wish we got PSN treatment for.

I love Justin and Feena's relationship in Grandia. It has very smooth development, doesn't feel rushed, and feels completely natural. As they grow into adults from adolescence, so do their feelings for each other. It's tied into their primary character development, but not in, say, a Squall FFVIII way. It's never blatant and overbearing.

Laharl and Flonne because. . .I don't even know, it's not even particularly special or unique. It's cute, though, and made an impact on me.

Tifa's actually a really, really interesting case. She starts out actually hurting Cloud by supporting his lies in Kalm and never quite telling him the truth, stealthily evading it in many cases, until she really must. Her character development is tied into Cloud's; the strange attachment problems ease off and she begins to love Cloud for who he is and not for the fantasy she dreamed and he created. They're definitely incredibly interesting; Tifa gets a lot of attention because of her breasts, but it's her personality and conflicts that makes her one of the better characters in the series.

Luke/Tear. I love their relationship and find it very complex. It begins as reluctant companionship, evolves into a kind of student/teacher relationship and finally as Luke matures, the feelings begin to deepen. I love how Luke is the naive one in this relationship, with Tear being the jaded, experienced half of the pair.

Since we've been discussing SO2 lately, I also really like some of the various pairings from that game, but my favorite is Chisato and Dias. Given their personalities, I think they are a good match and frankly look good together.

Fuck it...Joel and Ellie/ Nier and Yonah (US ver. :P )I know it's gross to put this here, but I mean it as in the parent/child dynamic is highly under-utilized and under-appreciated as a whole and probably a dynamic that makes more sense as to "how far you'd go for someone". It's not romance, but certainly a better depiction of true love on a whole other level.

I will be honest. My face contorted in disgust before I realised what you were actually saying. I agree with you too. The Father/Child angle isn't seen enough in videogames. At least not from the parents perspective. I thought it worked a hell of a lot better in the Western Nier than the Brother/Sister ever could have. I haven't played the Jap version though so I could be wrong on that.

Still, shame on you for putting it in the Favourite RPG romance thread :(

Ozma/Hobyrim in TO PSP version. I'm well aware this wasn't in the original, but this is an absolutely beautiful addition. They're fitting together, very tragic on Chaos/Neutral, hopeful (but still sad, in a sense) on Law.

Fuck it...Joel and Ellie/ Nier and Yonah (US ver. :P )I know it's gross to put this here, but I mean it as in the parent/child dynamic is highly under-utilized and under-appreciated as a whole and probably a dynamic that makes more sense as to "how far you'd go for someone". It's not romance, but certainly a better depiction of true love on a whole other level.

I will be honest. My face contorted in disgust before I realised what you were actually saying. I agree with you too. The Father/Child angle isn't seen enough in videogames. At least not from the parents perspective. I thought it worked a hell of a lot better in the Western Nier than the Brother/Sister ever could have. I haven't played the Jap version though so I could be wrong on that.

Still, shame on you for putting it in the Favourite RPG romance thread :(

Yes. When I saw the topic title this is the first thing I went to. Hiro and Lucia, SO good. Lucia's progression as a character is so good too. <3 <3 <3

Some others?

Junpei + June(Akane) in 999 ... twisted, and awesome.

Fei + Elly in Xenogears ... and all their soul-connected predecessors. Especially the ones that were sorta-parents for Emeralda.

Fang + Vanille in FFXIII ... no "romance" made explicit, but if there were an openly gay couple in an FF game, this would be the place to start. I'll never understand why people don't like Vanille's VA. I must have a high tolerance for ... whatever it is about Vanille. And Fang's accent is super rad.

I still think the big pimp in RPGs is Meis from Thousand Arms. Where characters like Irvine claim to be womanizers, they're all talk whereas Meis walks the walk. He dates every girl in his party AND hass girlfriends in various towns (including the little sister of one of his party members.) Heck, he even dates a priestess who's probably 200 years old or something.

...pity Ratchet wasn't date-able in that game. le sigh.

I agree, but fish people man....fish people!!

I love the hell outta Meis though, that was a title that I wish we got PSN treatment for.

Thousand Arms on PSN would be fantastic.

As for the fish-people... must resist urge to make lewd and crude jokes.